12 Writers Selected for Irish Writers Centre Evolution Programme

We are thrilled to announce that this year we have awarded 12 writers for the Irish Writers Centre Evolution Programme 2026-2027. They are Conor Kostick, David Brennan, David McLoghlin, Fióna Bolger, Gary Maloney, Gráinne Murphy, Jamie O’Halloran, Karen J. McDonnell, Lynda Marron, Madeleine D’Arcy, Méabh Collins and Siobhán Fenton. 

 

Evolution is a six-month programme that provides support for 12 published writers to advance their careers. Through providing each writer with a tailored suite of supports, this programme aims to ease the difficult journey for published writers who have one or two books under their belt and need further support at a crucial stage of their careers. 

The suite of supports includes access to courses, one-to-one mentoring (creative and professional), Irish Writers Centre membership, monthly peer-to-peer knowledge sharing forums, an opportunity to be on a paid teaching residency with the School of English and Creative Arts at the University of Galway, and a residency at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Creative Writing, Queen’s University Belfast.  

The three Evolution writers selected to take part in this year’s University of Galway teaching residency are Conor Kostick, Karen J. McDonnell and David McLoghlin. These writers will teach on the Creative Writing undergraduate course as part of a paid residency. This unique opportunity was co-created with Irish Writers Centre Ambassador Mike McCormack and Dr. John Kenny, Director of the BA in English and Creative Writing at University of Galway. The writer selected for the residency at the Seamus Heaney Centre is Siobhán Fenton. Many thanks to Prof. Glenn Patterson and Rachel Brown at the Centre for facilitating.  

The Irish Writers Centre Evolution Programme is supported by the Arts Council of Ireland, Arts Council of Northern Ireland, and the University of Galway

 

Evolution Programme 2026 Awardees: 

Conor Kostick

Conor Kostick is the author of 23 books of fiction and non-fiction, including the internationally acclaimed Epic. Conor advocates for writers via his membership of the executive of the Irish Writers Union and the board of the European Writers’ Council. A former member of the board of the National Library of Ireland, Conor was twice president of the Irish jury for the EU Prize of Literature and is often asked to judge literary competitions. His Finish Your Novel course at the Irish Writers Centre has run for twenty years. 

 

David Brennan 

David’s debut novel, Upperdown, was published by Époque Press in 2019, followed by Spit in 2025. He has been shortlisted for the Queen Mary Fiction Award (2026). A winner of the Irish Novel Fair (2018) and the Frank O’Connor Mentorship Award (2016), he has been shortlisted for numerous fiction prizes. His stories and poems have appeared in The Irish Times, Époque Press, The Ogham Stone, Bristol Short Story Anthology, and other publications. He has spent many years abroad teaching in Japan and most recently China.  

 David McLoghlin

David McLoghlin is a dual genre writer. His third book, Crash Centre, was shortlisted for the 2025 Pigott Poetry Prize. He was awarded a Literature Bursary for memoir by the Arts Council in 2025 to support his book of narrative sports writing, Reading the Green, about his grandfather, Eddie Hackett, ‘the father of Irish golf course design’, an extract from which is forthcoming in Golfer’s Journal in the USA in late 2026. His work has been broadcast on WNYC’s Radiolab and published in The Stinging Fly, PN Review, The Moth, Literary Hub, Poetry Foundation and the Sunday Business Post. 

 

Fíona Bolger

Fióna Bolger is a poet, mentor and creative facilitator with a particular interest in writing between and across languages. Her work has appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Trumpet, Unapologetic Magazine, Chattahoochee Review, Poetry Bus and Brown Critique. She has published two poetry collections and most recently a chapbook, Reconstituting Myself (Moonstone Press, Philadelphia, 2025). She has received two Arts Council Agility Awards. She co-edited KIN: An Anthology of Romani, Traveller and Nomadic Writers (Salmon Poetry, 2024). She co-facilitates Dubeloving in Charleville Mall Library and Tipp of Our Tongues, in Roscrea, plurilingual writing workshops for all the community. 

Gary Moloney

Gary Moloney is an award-winning writer of comics, table-top role-playing games, and animation. A Corkonian in exile, having spent a number of years in the world of small press publishers, Gary made his professional debut with the dark fantasy comic series When the Blood has Dried, released by Mad Cave Studios in 2024. Since then he has worked on projects featuring characters from Marvel Comics, Warhammer, and Flash Gordon. As a co-founder of the Limit Break Comics collective, Gary has worked to promote the growth of comics in Ireland and regularly contributes to their line of mythology-themed anthologies. 

Gráinne Murphy

Gráinne Murphy is a Cork-based writer. Her novels include Greener (2024) and Winter People (2022), both published by Legend Press. Greener was translated and published by Ukrainian publisher One More Page in 2025. Gráinne’s short stories have been shortlisted for the RSL V.S. Pritchett Award 2025 and the Fish Short Story Award (2020, 2019, 2013) and longlisted for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award (2021) and the RSL V.S. Pritchett Award (2024). Her stories have also been published in Cork Stories, Southword and Fish Anthology, among others. Her essay Time Immemorial, on country graveyards, was published by The Milkhouse in 2021.  

 

Jamie O’Halloran

Jamie O’Halloran is an American-Irish poet living in Connemara. Her debut collection, Ballast, was published in 2025 by Drunk Muse Press. She has five chapbooks, including Corona Connemara & Half a Crown, a winner in the 2021 Fool for Poetry Chapbook Competition. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Banshee, Crannóg, Southword, and others, and in a dozen anthologies including Romance Options from Dedalus Press. Her reviews appear in Tinderbox Poetry Journal, The Tupelo Quarterly and others. Jamie is a recipient of an Arts Council of Ireland Agility Award, a residency at Brigit’s Garden, and other awards. 

Karen J. McDonell

Karen J McDonnell’s writing is widely published, including Poetry Ireland Review, Southword, The Poetry Bus, Peaceweavers Anthology (Culture Matters, UK), Washing Windows V (Arlen House), Vital Signs (Poetry Ireland), Romance Options (Dedalus Press), New Isles Press 2, Skylight 47, Crannóg, The Stony Thursday, The Cormorant, The Galway Review, The North, and New Irish Writing.  Her poem ‘Driftwood’ was shortlisted for Irish Poem of the Year. Non-fiction and poetry have been Best of the Net, Pushcart, and Forward Prize–nominated. A recipient of Arts Council funding and writers’ residencies, This Little World and TIDAL are published by Doire Press. 

 

Lynda Marron

Lynda Marron is the author of two novels, Last Chance in Paris and The Bridge to Always. She was the winner of the Kenmare Arts Festival Short Story Competition 2025. Her writing has appeared in The Irish Examiner and The Irish Times. She lives in Cork. 

 

Madeleine D’Arcy 

Madeleine D’Arcy lives in Cork City and writes fiction. Her début short story collection, Waiting for the Bullet (Doire Press, 2014), won the Edge Hill Readers’ Choice Prize 2015 (UK). Her second collection, Liberty Terrace (Doire Press, 2021), was awarded a FAPA Bronze Medal 2022 (US) and was Cork City’s One City One Book 2023. Other literary prizes include the Hennessy Literary Award and overall Hennessy New Irish Writer Award. Her third collection will be published in 2027. Her debut novel is currently on submission. She is represented by Brian Langan of Storyline Agency. 

Méabh Collins

Méabh Collins is a writer from Dublin. She has published two novels for teenagers with The O’Brien Press. Her debut novel, Freya Harte is Not a Puzzle, won the Great Reads Award in 2024. Her second novel, From the Top, Sally Flynn was published in April 2026. A qualified primary school teacher, she recently completed a PhD in English Literature at Trinity College Dublin, where she is now a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Assistant. She is an Irish speaker and is currently writing her first book for adults in the language. 

Siobhán Fenton

Siobhán Fenton is a Belfast-based writer and journalist. She is the author of two non-fiction books. Her first book The Good Friday Agreement was published in 2018 by Biteback and assesses how the legacy of the conflict continues to affect communities in post-conflict Northern Ireland. Her memoir Ourselves Alone: Sinn Féin Behind Closed Doors is forthcoming in September 2026 and recounts her experiences of working as an adviser in Leinster House, during the recent emergence of the far-right. Her non-fiction writing has been published by outlets including the Irish Times, the Irish Independent, the Guardian, the New Statesman and Vogue. 

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